1. Field
The following description relates to electrorheological fluid, a method of producing the same, and electrorheological fluid applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an electrorheological fluid (ERF) is defined as a suspension or fluid composed of electrically polarizable particles dispersed in a dielectric fluid. The rheological properties of an electrorheological fluid depend on an electric field applied to the electrorheological fluid.
When an electric field is applied to an electrorheological fluid, particles dispersed in the electrorheological fluid are dielectrically polarized due to their attractive forces and aligned in a chain structure in the direction of the applied electric field. The chain structure provides resistance to fluid flow and external forces, and increases the viscosity of the electrorheological fluid.
As such, since the electrorheological fluid has an advantage of being capable of controlling its mechanical power simply by application of an electric field without having to use an additional device, the electrorheological fluid can be applied to various technical fields, such as a vehicle damper system, a shock absorber, an engine mount, a valve system for controlling a rate of flow, a positioning system, robots, actuators, etc.
Moreover, since the dispersed particles in the electrorheological fluid are aligned in the direction of an applied electric field under the influence of the electric field, the electrorheological fluid exhibits the properties of a Bingham fluid whose viscosity sharply increases. However, since the properties of a Bingham fluid exhibit a very complicated mechanism, its correct arithmetic model has not yet been established.